Bowlby's theory of attachment

bowlby suggested that a child should be close to a care giver for the first few years of their life in order for them to survive. This is because the child is protected against danger due to the presence of the care giver. Children have the innate tendency to attach in order to aid their survival. They use proximity promoting behaviours to keep their caregiver close, these proximity promoting behaviours could be clinging, smiling, crying etc. and the proximity promoting behaviours is more critical in the sensitivity period.

Strengths

+supported by Harlow’s monkeys study where monkeys ran to a soft monkey model for comfort

+supported by Lorenz study in which she found that goslings imprint

+supported by Bowlby's study off 44 juvenile thieves who experienced affectionless psychopathy due to maternal deprivation